St Mary's School and 6th Form College
Wrestwood Road, Bexhill on Sea, TN40 2LU
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Non-maintained special school
- Ages
- 5 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Inter- / non- denominational
- Headteacher
- Ms Natalie Edwards
- Boarding
- Boarding school
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Bexhill and Battle
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 250
- Pupils on roll
- 221
- URN
- 133653
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01424730740
About this school
St Mary's School and 6th Form College is a special school in Bexhill on Sea. It teaches children aged 5 to 19 and has 221 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Mary's School and 6th Form College, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 12 | 10 | 13 |
| Attainment 8 score | 2.3 | 4.9 | 10.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.72 -2.77 to -0.67 | -1.32 -2.20 to -0.44 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 7.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 7.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.9 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How St Mary's School and 6th Form College has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | East Sussex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 2.3 | 36.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 4.9 | 35 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 10.1 | 33.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 111 |
| 2023/24 | 140 |
| 2024/25 | 179 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 35.26%
- English as an additional language
- 3.4%
- Overall absence
- 7.85%
- Persistent absence
- 23.27%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Glyne Gap School0.8 miles
Academies · Bexhill-on-Sea
-
East Sussex Skills Academy0.9 miles
Free Schools · Bexhill-on-Sea
-
Bexhill Independent Special School1.7 miles
Special schools · Bexhill-on-Sea
-
Saxon Mount School2.2 miles
Academies · St Leonards-on-Sea
-
Headstart3.2 miles
Special schools · Battle
Common questions
- What ages does St Mary's School and 6th Form College teach?
- St Mary's School and 6th Form College teaches children aged 5 to 19. It is a special school in Bexhill on Sea.
- Who is the headteacher of St Mary's School and 6th Form College?
- The headteacher of St Mary's School and 6th Form College is Ms Natalie Edwards, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Mary's School and 6th Form College been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Mary's School and 6th Form College, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at St Mary's School and 6th Form College?
- St Mary's School and 6th Form College has 221 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 19.
- Is St Mary's School and 6th Form College full?
- St Mary's School and 6th Form College has capacity for 250 pupils and 221 on roll (88%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is St Mary's School and 6th Form College a faith school?
- Yes. St Mary's School and 6th Form College is designated Inter- / non- denominational.
- What SEN provision does St Mary's School and 6th Form College have?
- The schools register lists St Mary's School and 6th Form College's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have St Mary's School and 6th Form College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 2.3 in 2022/23 and 10.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is St Mary's School and 6th Form College's absence rate?
- St Mary's School and 6th Form College's overall absence rate is 7.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Mary's School and 6th Form College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Mary's School and 6th Form College's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 1 July 2026.